Among the most powerful images that have become real icons and role models, there was a place for the eastern Joan of Arc. The plot of any movie adaptation of the heroine’s story is based on the Chinese legend of a brave warrior girl named Hua Mulan. Posing as a young man, she goes to fight instead of her elderly and obsessed father.
Shanghai movie
In 1939, film director Boo Wang-tsan made the film “Mulan enters the army”, based on the folk ballad “Song of Mulan”. Screen adaptation gives new features to the image of the heroine and the end of the story is not at all tragic. The tape was created during the Sino-Japanese War to raise the morale of the Chinese and to counter Japanese propaganda. The girl, being on the front line, sneaks into the camp of the invaders, finds out about the impending attack, kills the adviser to the general, regroups the troops and deals a devastating blow to the enemy. The emperor, in gratitude, offers her a high rank, but Hua Mulan requests permission to return to her family. At home, she takes on a female form and marries her comrade Liu Fen-dou.
To a certain extent, the director can be considered the discoverer, since his project was the first film in which the woman appeared not as the guardian of the family hearth, but in the image of a real fighter.
Image prevalence
In the second half of the XX century after the release of the novel by M.Kh. Kingston "Woman-warrior: girlish memories surrounded by spirits" there was a real globalization of the image of Hua Mulan. In the literary source, the narration was conducted on behalf of the mother of the heroine and dealt with issues of equality between men and women. During this period, several entertaining television series were created, in which the romantic line prevailed. The plot of the projects was saturated with a mass of comical situations in which the secret of Mulan could be revealed at any moment. For example, the Chinese television movie of 2013 “The Legendary Hua Mulan” or the American project in the fantasy genre “Once Upon a Time” in 2011.
For children
In 1998, a cartoon appeared about Hua Mulan of the Italian company A Mondo TV. He opened the heroine of a western audience. It was a project from Disney Studios Mulan. Despite all the historical inaccuracies and the obvious influence of Western culture, the Disney masterpiece presented the heroine to the public that might interest her. The culture of China is shown exaggerated. Cute hooligan variety is brought into the story by minor characters: a former guardian of the Mushu family, a faithful steed Mulan and a happy cricket. The result is a very funny and funny cartoon, not inferior to other classic Disney productions.
In 2004, the sequel "Mulan 2" was released. In the sequel to the already familiar heroes - the brave warrior and her lover Li Shan - the most important mission is to fulfill - to play the wedding.
Heroic Epic 2009
Before the co-production of the United States and China appeared, the most famous movie version was the Disney movie, for the Chinese version of which Jackie Chan himself sang songs.
The directors of the project “Mulan” (2009) somewhat moved away from the canonical text, almost completely changing the final third of the story. Starting as a heroic epic, praising the courage and heroism of “simple” soldiers, gender equality, the story of Hua Mulan in the finale suddenly turns into a melodrama about unhappy love. This somewhat spoils the impression of watching a wonderful historical epic in the best traditions of the genre.
In perspective
Most recently, director Nicky Caro (Riding a Whale, MacFarland) announced the completion of the filming of the new movie version of Mulan. Now the tape is at the post-production stage. A whole group of playwrights worked on the script of the picture. William Kong is acting as a producer (Wolf Totem, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, House of Flying Daggers).
The release date is set for 2020. The film has a significant budget, even by Hollywood standards, of $ 300 million. According to the directors, most of the money was spent on creating scenery that was unprecedented in scale, so the project should be impressive in all respects.